Your Opinion, please....would you find this offensive?

[CatieElphie1]

Posted: 7/21/05 at 6:56pm

So this is long, but I would really love your input on this.
anyways, I am a budding journalist for my local paper and I get a column every other week or so.
So this month, my editor screwed me over and decided to give my column to someone else, but invited me to write another piece. My idea is thus:

I was thinking that with that new show "30 days" becoming so popular, I was thinking about maybe seeing if I could set up a "1 Day" sort of thing. I was thinking it might be a really cool idea to have a normal teen like me (or as close to it....) to spend a day or so doing something that sort of changes thier outlook of life or how the community views them.
For instance, I was thinking about maybe interviewing a Muslim teenager and then possibly going with her to the mall or whatnot and wearing a traditional headscarf..
Another story possibility was maybe interviewing a handicapped person and then going to the mall (or a restaurant, or a movie, etc...) and going around with them in a wheelchair (or whatever their disability is). Even if I didn't actually ride in the wheelchair or whatnot, even just going around with them might be enlightening.
I have a friend whose stepdad is handicapped, and she has told me some really interesting things about how handicapped people are treated and how difficult it is to have access and whatnot.
I was thinking these would be really, really good articles to write, especially focusing on what it has taught me and how people reaacted and treated me.
But, on the other hand, do you think it might offend some people? I mean, I could see how some truly handicapped people or muslim people might get mad because I was only "merely pretending", but I think that if I wrote a really good article it would be really interesting to read.

What do you guys think>

[Justice]

Posted: 7/21/05 at 6:59pm

There's nothing offensive about spending a day in someone else's shoes, and then enlightening people on what it is like to live differently than others. It's actually more educational than offensive.

[KelRel]

Posted: 7/21/05 at 7:01pm

I think that it is great that you are wanting to expand you're view on the world and share that with others. Just make sure that you go at it in a way that is respectful to the person who you are "shadowing".

[CatieElphie1]

Posted: 7/21/05 at 7:01pm

you put it exactly how I was thinking.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 7/21/05 at 7:03pm

I agree with both Justice and Kel.....great idea, just make sure to do it in a respectful manner.......GREAT idea!

[Popular]

Posted: 7/21/05 at 7:06pm

I like the idea too.

[grizzabella]

Posted: 7/21/05 at 8:04pm

It's a great idea. Someone close to me works with people who are handicapped and is often in public with them. He has said repeatedly that many people are very uncomfortable being around people with handicaps - not because they're cruel, just because they don't know how to react to them in a meaningful way. They tend to see the handicap instead of the person. For instance, if a person who is blind is with a companion, service people often talk to the companion instead of addressing the appropriate question to the person.
An article like the one you suggest, when done with sensitivity, would be a service.

[The Grovers Corners Yenta]

Posted: 7/21/05 at 8:07pm

This is a wonderful idea and you should do it. Spending a day shadowing someone could actually help people as well as enriching your life. How about spending the day with: a homeless person, a morbidly obese person, a deaf or blind person, an actor, a nurse or medical student......the list goes on and on. Please keep us posted as to how this goes.

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 7/21/05 at 8:08pm

it's all in the writing, not the concept itself. Hopefully you can prove to this advisor/editor type how well you write with such an interesting source. Keep it about your own feelings and perceptions, the reactions you receive and observe, and don't draw any conclusions about how those who have no choice to live life that way "for just one day" might be feeling. Even as you describe how others react to you, don't judge their behavior. Just report it and let the reader draw their own conclusions. "Talking down" is hard to avoid for anyone, particularly for someone so young.

[CatieElphie1]

Posted: 7/21/05 at 11:01pm

Yenta: my "list"....(that sounds like an awful way to put it, dosn't it?) as of right now, is as follows...what do you think...

--A Muslim
--A handicapped person
--A homeless person
--An Amish person...(I'm serious. I think that would be really interesting)
--A person who lives below the poverty line
--Yenta :)
suggestions??